AI on the Horizon: October 16, 2025

Canada’s latest AI news on the economy, society, and policy. In this issue, we examine the potential of AI and Robotics. The growing use of AI in the physical world is gaining traction, but where does Canada’s economy stand to benefit?

Let’s get Physical

While robotics have been employed for decades, AI’s injection into these machines is a complete game-changer for the coming wave of Physical AI that companies like SoftBank are moving toward.

We are witnessing growing trends in autonomous food delivery and vehicles, a step that marks a more ‘humanoid’ approach to robotics use. A growing number of robotics upstarts are leveraging generative AI models based on human movements, tasks, and speech information to see, decide, and act in the physical world.

Falling hardware costs for both advanced sensors and computing in building robots are enabling AI’s physical integration. Collaborative robots, which augment worker capabilities, are experiencing substantial growth, increasing from 2.8 to 10.5 percent globally from 2017 to 2023. Meanwhile, global demand for industrial robots has doubled since 2015, while Canada’s industrial robotics deployment is among the lowest of the G7 outside of the automotive sector, which accounts for over half of its robotics demand.

Canada’s AI and Robotics by the Numbers

Despite seeing considerable growth in AI adoption since last year, from 6.1 to 12.2 per cent, Statistics Canada reports robotics adoption was at 2% in 2023. Yet in 2025, 6 per cent of businesses had deployed hardware using AI. Robotics experts suggest that federal support for ‘physical AI’ could potentially improve Canada’s lagging robot deployment in the economy. Yet Canadians remain strongly distrustful of both technologies, despite evidence to support that robotics investment increases total employment. Our own reporting suggests that AI and Robotics have the most potential to boost Canada’s productivity among automation tools, particularly in goods-producing and transportation sectors.

On the Horizon: Who is Canada’s Mr. Robot?

Canadian robotics and AI fusion firms are tackling modern-day challenges. Sanctuary AI aims to replace menial (and frankly treacherous) tasks like taking out the trash, packing a box, or folding clothes with AI-powered androids. Both Indro Robotics and Clearpath Robotics take a more nuanced approach, working with customers to develop bespoke solutions for industry-specific use cases, while Promise Robotics aims to improve the homebuilding process by enabling its robotic arms to fabricate housing materials based on blueprint specifications (the 2025 Canadarm, if you will).

It’s easy to get lost in all this potential, but let’s promise not to forget to program it to open the pod bay doors, no matter what.

To learn more about our research on AI’s potential for the Canadian Manufacturing sector, please see our recent issue briefing Modernizing Canadian Manufacturing With AI—September 2025.